Guide to Home Network Assistance
Guide to Home Network Assistance
I reside in a rental property, moved in roughly a year ago. Until now, I've relied solely on wifi, but recently I began purchasing components for a PC build and realized I might need Ethernet. I thought it would be available, but when I bought a short cable and adapter, I was shocked to discover my home ports are RJ 41, not the RJ 45 needed for Ethernet. After some research, I concluded my setup likely uses phone ports instead of Ethernet ports. My questions: 1) Can I extend Ethernet to another room without a long cable from the router? 2) What can I do to improve both Ethernet and wifi speeds? I'm on AT&T wifi and currently get only 28 Mbps, the same as when directly connected to the router with my adapter. My router appears to be an AT&T fiber model, a BGW210. Thank you!
For coaxial connections, MoCA offers the top choice. If you must go further, Powerline can work but success depends heavily on luck to maintain consistent speeds. Which speeds are you bidding for? What is your USB to ethernet adapter model? Some devices are constrained by USB bandwidth and will struggle to hit 1Gbps even with a labeled gigabit Ethernet port.
Here are some alternative ideas:
- Look into different powerline options.
- Consider if a coaxial connection might be more suitable.
- Evaluate whether the investment is justified based on your needs.
It seems you're dealing with phone lines rather than network cabling. If you end up needing long cables, you can work around obstacles like baseboards and furniture. It's less tidy than running wires through walls, but it's the only choice unless you secure your landlord's support for the project.
Configure Wireshark and enable the "network address" option in the view menu. Install a pi-hole within a virtual machine running Linux, then install the Unbound DNS server. On Windows systems, an IP address tied to a domain will be cached for up to three minutes, typically reducing repeat connections by about one-twentieth of a second and lowering bandwidth usage during uploads. Unbound suggests retaining DNS data for 1–3 days, which helps minimize traffic. Pi-hole offers a user-friendly web dashboard to monitor connected sites and block specific domains. For faster deployment, consider NextDNS as an alternative while setting up pi-hole. Browser extensions like Privacy Badger and uBlock Origin can also enhance performance by blocking trackers and unwanted scripts. NoScript provides comprehensive blocking when set to untrusted, preventing ads and malicious downloads. RethinkDNS for Android supports local domain filtering, helping you restrict access to specific websites directly on the device. You can also manually block individual apps, IP addresses, or domains as needed. Sources include F-droid for unmodified app sources.